The Babylonians and Land Surveyors

[John Morris]

Ok, time for me to nerd out on my profession. Some of you may know I am a Land Surveyor. Enough of that.

A friend of mine sent me this article pointing to the fact, and I think by reading the article it is a fact at this point, that Pythagoras was not the first mathematician to develop his famous Pythagorean theorem.

 

According to this research condensed by Smithsonian Magazine the Babylonians were solving complex (at the time) property boundary assignments and disputes using the same method 1000 years before Pythagoras had developed his.

 

 

This to me is earth shattering news in my own micro bubble, we use Pythagorean frequently with our calculators in the office, and in the field to find the missing side "c" or hypotenuse of a right triangle, and it only works with a right triangle. And complete credit has always been given to this Greek philosopher/mathematician.

 

Now, I'm not good at math (and I became a surveyor?), so I am not speaking from a high knowledge of mathematics here generally, only math that is commonly used in my profession can I with some confidence speak too, and that is precisely why the Pythagorean theorem is so popular because it is so easy to remember and used by the common man. It's embedded in the mind of every land surveyor, "a" squared plus "b" squared and the root thereof equals "c". Easy to remember, and easy to hit into the calculator.

 

Now though, should Pythagoras be credited for his formula completely? After all in it's simplest form, I am not surprised that an earlier civilization figured it out, it really is just a ratio that anyone earlier could easily have solved by simply laying down the physical corners with rope and measuring the hypotenuse, they would have, should have figured it out, so it's no surprise the Babylonians were using this method 1000 years before it was "discovered" by a Greek and perhaps rightfully so if he was the first to create the formula.

 

Reading this article, I can't tell if they are saying the Babylonians were using the Pythagorean theorem to layout boundaries for land ownership, and to solve disputes? Were they actually using the square root of the measurements? Or I think more likely they were using a variant of the formula.

Very interesting!

As a side note, I understand the incredible talent the Egyptians possessed in their land surveying endeavors, but this article is about the Babylonian's. So don't start winging out that "well the Egyptians did yadayadayada first and so on", ya I know.

 

Babylonians Used Applied Geometry 1,000 Years Before Pythagoras

WWW.SMITHSONIANMAG.COM

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Calculations inscribed on a clay tablet helped ancient people document property boundaries, new research suggests

 

[Gene Howe]

Now, that's just plain interesting. Thanks for adding this tid bit of history to our sadly lacking knowledge base. 

However, my math skills are imited to formulae that don't include the alphabet.

[kmealy]

5 hours ago, Gene Howe said:

Now, that's just plain interesting. Thanks for adding this tid bit of history to our sadly lacking knowledge base. 

However, my math skills are imited to formulae that don't include the alphabet.

1+1 = 2 ?

 

Well, many ancient civilizations, the Incas, the Egyptians, Mayans, Mesopotamians, Nubians and others all had advanced civilizations because they were led by aliens.   This was when the earth was also flat.  They also taught them that the square root of two is irrational.

[Cal]

An interest article John.  I had never given much of any thought to when private land ownership came to be.  Always assumed that back in those days all land would have been owned by the King, Pharaoh, or whoever the ruler happened to be... there's another mathematical term for you - ruler

[John Morris]

1 hour ago, Cal said:

there's another mathematical term for you - ruler

You're so bad!

[John Morris]

17 hours ago, kmealy said:

1+1 = 2 ?

sadly not in today's world anymore Keith.

[kmealy]

3 hours ago, John Morris said:

sadly not in today's world anymore Keith.

https://www.quotacy.com/the-parents-guide-to-common-core-math/#:~:text=You start by breaking both,plus 7 ones is 13.

 

Now just how are you supposed to do that in your head?  And my philosophy in math and woodworking is the more things change along the way, the more chance you have to make a mistake.

 

Did you know that 10+5 = 3? *

 

 

* Well in modulo 12.  Also known as "clock addition"  5 hours after 10am is 3pm

[kmealy]

6 hours ago, Cal said:

 there's another mathematical term for you - ruler

Saw a YouTube video a few weeks ago that went on and on explaining the difference between a rule and a ruler.   The distinction in search of a difference IMO,

[Gunny]

We think because we have all the advanced tech of modern society that we are MORE advanced than any other culture in our past.  I am not convinced.  Too much evidence exists in plain sight that our ancestors had knowledge and understanding of the world way beyond what we give them credit for.

[Al B]

There's no question that someone in the past had more knowledge than we can emagine. Aliens? Anyone watch Skinwalker ranch? Strange things happen there! Why is the government so interested in what happens there?

 

[John Morris]

On 8/6/2023 at 11:00 AM, kmealy said:

https://www.quotacy.com/the-parents-guide-to-common-core-math/#:~:text=You start by breaking both,plus 7 ones is 13.

 

Now just how are you supposed to do that in your head?  And my philosophy in math and woodworking is the more things change along the way, the more chance you have to make a mistake.

What the flip! I just looked at the website! My gosh, no wonder the kids are all jacked up today!

Whatever happened to flash cards? I remember sitting on the sofa for hours with all our kids and going through the flash cards for their common addition subtraction division and multiplication.

The Times Tables weren't enough?

 

EDIT: I just read the comments from some of the parents, they weren't too happy either

Anyone know if we are still doing common core in our schools?